A tangy-sweet crunchy French carrot salad that combines julienne or grated fresh, raw carrots with a lemony honey vinaigrette dressing, fresh cilantro, and crispy sliced almonds. It’s the best make-ahead refrigerator salad or snack.

Julienned carrots, fresh cilantro and sliced almond carrot salad in a bowl, with various bowls and a linen towel arranged around it.

Raw carrots rarely get star billing — they’re usually hiding as the foundation of a stock or the thing you add to a stew without thinking twice. This salad changes that. Cut into thin matchsticks and dressed with a honey-lemon vinaigrette, they’re bright, snappy, and actually interesting — the kind of thing you’d find at a Paris take-away counter alongside a jambon beurre.

In France, this is salad is called carottes râpées — grated or julienne carrots dressed in vinaigrette, sold at every charcuterie counter and corner épicerie. This version keeps the spirit of that, adding toasted almonds and a hit of lemon zest.

Karen’s ingredient notes

Ingredients for a carrot salad arranged on a surface, showing colorful whole carrots, fresh lemon, shallot, cilantro, seasonings and salad dressing.
  • Carrots: Pre-shredded carrots from a bag are convenient, but they’re almost always dried out and tasteless by the time they reach you. Choose firm whole carrots instead, with or without their green tops. I’ve found that larger carrots are easier to slice into matchsticks than slender ones. If your market has multi-colored rainbow shades of purple, yellow, and orange carrots, use them for an especially beautiful salad.
  • Sweetener: Instead of granulated sugar, I like to use liquid honey or maple syrup because it dissolves more easily into the vinaigrette without the graininess you’d get from sugar.
  • Herbs: Cilantro has a faint citrus-anise note that I read as very French bistro alongside the lemon and honey. Parsley is a more neutral swap — use it if you want the dressing to be the loudest thing on the plate, or if you’re cooking for cilantro-averse guests.
  • Almonds: Toast them in a dry pan until the edges are just gold — raw almonds are fine in a warm dish but feel slightly chalky in a cold salad. A minute or two on medium heat deepens their flavor enough to hold up against the vinaigrette’s acidity.

Three ways to thin-cut carrots for salad

  • Hand-cut matchstick carrots, grated carrots, julienned carrots and mandoline-sliced carrots arranged in separate piles on a white board.
    Left to right: A chef’s knife gives you the most control and the chunkiest strips; box-grated is the quickest but shortest cut; a julienne peeler makes long, noodle-like shreds, a mandoline is the most uniform. All four work — the difference shows up in texture, not flavor.
  • Start by peeling the carrots. If you prefer, skip this step and simply scrub them. Trim off the stem and root ends from the carrots.
  • A swivel julienne peeler in the process of slicing a carrot stick.
    Option 1: A swivel-bladed julienne peeler is the most satisfying tool for this — one pass and you get long, thin strips with almost no effort. Hold the carrot steady on the board, anchor the narrow end with a folded towel, and drag the peeler away from you.
  • A box grater and grated carrots on a work surface, showing a cutting board and bowls of ingredients in the background.
    Option 2: The coarse side of a box grater gives you shorter, slightly thicker shreds — closer to grated than julienned, but they drink up the dressing beautifully and the texture holds for days. Hold the carrot lengthwise against the grater for the longest strands.
  • A white plastic mandoline slicer set on top of a cutting board, with shredded carrots on top and underneath.
    Option 3: A mandoline slicer gives you the most uniform matchsticks of any method. Use the julienne blade if your mandoline has one, or slice thin planks first and stack-cut them. This is my favorite method.
  • Matchstick sliced orange carrots and a chef's knife on a cutting surface.
    Option 4: No special equipment needed — just a sharp knife and a little patience. Cut the carrots into 3-inch lengths, slice lengthwise into thin planks (aim for 1/16 inch), stack a few at a time, and cut into matchsticks.
  • Peeled ends of sliced carrots on a cutting board.
    Any way you slice them, you’ll probably end up with some scrappy pieces. Snack on them, or toss them into your next batch of stock for homemade soup recipes.

Make the salad

  • Toasted sliced almonds in a small skillet.
    1. Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently. Pull them once the edges turn gold — they’ll keep cooking from residual heat and can go from toasted to burnt in under a minute.
  • A bowl of chopped shallots, maple syrup, lemon juice, and olive oil in a small bowl.
    2. Whisk the vinaigrette until the honey dissolves into the oil and vinegar — about 20 seconds. It should taste sharp, a little sweet, and bright from the lemon.
  • Fresh carrot salad tossed in a bowl with a pair of tongs on the side.
    3. The carrots will soften slightly as they marinate and soak up the dressing — that’s what you’re going for. Add the almonds right before serving so they stay crisp.
Matchstick-cut fresh carrot salad in a bowl, with serving utensils set alongside.
5 from 1 rating

Julienne Carrot Salad (French Bistro Style)

Karen Tedesco
Classic French julienne carrot salad with honey-lemon vinaigrette, toasted almonds, and fresh cilantro. Step-by-step instructions for cutting matchstick carrots four ways, with a knife, box grater, julienne peeler, or mandoline. Keeps refrigerated up to 4 days.
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Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Marinating Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
 

Salad dressing

  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) honey, or maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped shallot
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Carrot salad

  • 1 pound (450 g) carrots, peeled and trimmed
  • ¼ cup cilantro, or parsley leaves
  • Grated zest from one lemon, about 2 teaspoons
  • ¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted, or chopped whole almonds

Instructions
 

Prepare the dressing

  1. Mix the olive oil, honey or maple syrup, lemon juice, vinegar, shallot, salt and black pepper in a lidded jar and shake until blended.

Make the salad

  1. Grate or slice the carrots into matchstick pieces. You can use a box grater, julienne peeler, mandoline or chef's knife (see my photo tutorial right here). Transfer to a large bowl (you should have about 6 cups).
  2. Pour the dressing over the salad and add the cilantro or parsley and the lemon zest. Toss well, until the carrots are evenly coated. At this point, you can marinate the salad for 10-15 minutes or refrigerate 3-4 days.
  3. Just before serving, sprinkle on the almonds.

Notes

  • Optional add-ins: Add a big handful of golden raisins. Substitute chopped pistachios for the almonds. Crumble fresh goat cheese or feta over the salad. Add finely chopped chives or green onions instead of shallot.
  • The salad will keep refrigerated 3-4 days. 

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 118kcal Carbohydrates: 14g Protein: 2g Fat: 7g Sodium: 344mg Fiber: 3g Sugar: 10g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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